Just Like My Daddy: The Tale of a Faithful Father

The following is a retelling of a story I’ve shared before, however, recently the story became even more impactful.

When I was a child I would see my dad sitting at the breakfast table every morning studying God’s Word. My father was learning and growing to be like the Father. For the first seven years of my life my dad was a pastor. Every Sunday I would watch him stand behind the pulpit to share God’s Word with the congregation. At the end of the message he would stand in front of the center aisle as the invitation was given. Then following the service, during the closing prayer he would walk down the aisle to the doors at the back of the auditorium so that he could shake the hands of the people as they went out from the church. I would sneak out of the pew and walk down the aisle with him so that I, too, could shake the hands of the people.

For years I remember repeating the phrase, “I want to be just like my daddy.” I would put on a suit and a tie and I would say, “Just like my daddy.” I would pretend like I was preaching and I would say, “Just like my daddy.”

Maybe God took that phrase as a repetitive prayer offered up in a child’s faith, because on June 6^th of 2021, I stood behind the pulpit preaching in view of a call at the same church my dad pastored more than 30 years ago. At the end of the message, I stood in front of that same center aisle offering the invitation. Then my family and I walked to the back of that auditorium to stand at the doors to shake hands with the people as they went out from the church. However, this time I wasn’t standing next to my dad, the pastor. This time I was standing there as their newly called pastor.

I am forever grateful for the example that my father set for me when I was a child. I’m forever grateful for the seeds he planted in my life and in the lives of so many. And as I prepare to pastor First Baptist Stockdale in the coming days, I do so humbly, recognizing that many great men, like my father have led before me.

As we approach father’s day, I am reminded of this truth: Faithful fathers point to THE faithful Father. And oh what a faithful Father we serve!